Emotional Intelligence and emotions

An emotion is the experimentation of an affective state. It consists of a reaction that we show to the stimuli of the environment in a subjective way, which in turn is accompanied by organic changes. Although they are of innate origin, they are largely influenced by experience. Emotional intelligence plays a fundamental role in managing emotions, something that can provide us with a remarkable improvement in our quality of life.

Content

1 Introduction to Emotional Intelligence: emotions

2 types of emotion

3 Emotional Intelligence

Introduction to Emotional Intelligence: emotions

"Emotions are psychophysiological reactions that represent attempts to adapt to the environment"

Basically, what our brain does is modify our cognitions, our physiological reactions and drive behavior that helps us survive. Emotions originate in the limbic system And they have three components. It is an adaptive function of our organism.

Physiological. It is the first reaction to a stimulus and they are involuntary: breathing increases, changes at the hormonal level.

Cognitive Information is processed on a conscious and unconscious level. It influences our subjective experience.

Behavioral It causes a change in behavior: the gestures of the face, the movements of the body.

Types of emotion

Primary or basic emotions

They are the ones we experience in response to a stimulus.

Paul Ekman He states that the basic emotions are six: fear, anger, surprise joy, disgust and sadness. Taking into account the adaptive purpose of emotions, we can say that they have different functions.

Fear. It can happen that our body stops before taking a successful exit. The body is subject to a state of maximum alert. It is associated with nervousness, anxiety, worry, restlessness and on a more serious level, with phobia and panic.

Go to. Heart rate speeds up and hormones rise (the adrenalin) that predispose our body to take action. It is associated with hostility, rage, indignation, and in extreme cases, pathological hatred.

Joy. Negative feelings or discomfort are suppressed. Cancellation of virtually all important physiological reactions, except the feeling of tranquility and body calm. It is associated with pleasure, fun, sensual harmony and at higher levels with euphoria and ecstasy.

Surprise. Raising the eyebrows expressing surprise allows us to expand the visual field and our retina receives more light. This reaction increases information about the event, facilitating the best way to choose in the new situation.

Disgust. A facial gesture of disgust is outlined to block the nostrils in case of perceiving an unpleasant smell. It produces rejection of something that lies ahead.

Sadness. In case of losses, it is associated with an adaptive and restorative function. It causes a decrease in energy and enthusiasm for everyday activities. It paralyzes our metabolism and limits and isolates us. In severe cases, we can reach depression.

Secondary emotions

They are a group of emotions that follow the previous ones. When we experience the basic emotion of fear, for example, we can feel the secondary emotions of threat or anger. Secondary emotions are generated at the individual level as a result of learning by social norms and moral norms.

“Emotions affect people's behaviorpositively or negatively ”

Positive They are healthy emotions. They favor the way of thinking, reasoning and acting of people. Joy, satisfaction, gratitude, cause us a positive attitude towards life and make us feel experiences of feeling good.

Negative They affect the well-being of others, they are known as toxic emotions and often provoke the desire to avoid or evade them. For example: fear and sadness. Keep in mind that small amounts and low intensity are not harmful. They are part of the learning process. Thanks to them, our emotional memory helps us remember the consequences of certain behaviors or expose ourselves to certain contexts.

Ambiguous They are also known as neutral emotions, e.g. The surprise. It doesn't make us feel good or bad.

Emotional Intelligence

Is a Basic tool for our mental health and is a way of empowering ourselves in the face of life. In this way, we become more prepared people to face the daily ups and downs. By controlling our emotions, we are not victims of them and we can more adequately handle adverse situations that may arise.

Emotional intelligence is a term that became famous with Daniel Goleman. Is he set of skills that serve to express and control feelings in the most appropriate way in the personal and social field. It includes, therefore, a good handling of feelings, motivation, perseverance, empathy or mental agility; qualities that make up a socially adapted person.